2026 Eid Exodus Trends: People Book Tickets Earlier, Transactions Increase Significantly
TRENDS in the 2026 Eid exodus indicate a fairly significant shift in public behaviour. It’s not just about the timing of ticket bookings; people are now increasingly adept at using the Eid period as an opportunity for holidays.
Director of Transportation at tiket.com, Andi Hendrawan, revealed that this year’s exodus behaviour patterns are quite different compared to 2025. If previously many people only booked tickets a week before departure, this year the trend of booking has increased significantly earlier.
“So there is a fairly significant change from the trend of our people in carrying out this exodus, because the exodus is not just a term for returning to their hometowns. Sometimes people also use this period to take a vacation there,” said Andi in a press conference in Jakarta, Monday (23/2).
Citing the results of a YouGov Indonesia survey, Andi explained that in 2025, as many as 38 percent of people still booked transportation tickets during the H-2 to H-6 period before Eid.
However, a different picture is seen in 2026. Data from tiket.com shows a sharp increase in bookings during the period from the first week of January to the second week of February.
It was recorded that the increase in plane ticket bookings reached around 50 percent, while for rail mode, there was an increase in bookings of 56 percent.
This high enthusiasm is inseparable from government intervention in suppressing transportation costs. Andi said that the stimulus from the government, both from the tax side and efforts to stabilize ticket prices, is a major factor that encourages people to be more confident in planning their trips earlier.
“When compared to the previous year, of course, the prices are relatively cheaper. We can see that with this price stimulus, the increase in transactions since it was announced, the increase in transactions for the Eid period, for the date of travel during the Eid period, has increased significantly, almost double the previous period,” he explained.
Along with the high number of bookings, several areas are predicted to become points of congestion for travellers. For the exodus routes, cities such as Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Pekanbaru are predicted to be crowded with passengers.
Meanwhile, for holiday destinations, Bali remains a favourite for users of air transportation. As for train routes, people tend to choose Yogyakarta, Semarang, Cirebon, and Surabaya as their favourite destinations.
The change in people’s mindset, which has become more planned, is expected to distribute travel congestion more evenly compared to previous years. (Ant/Z-1)